GOP centrists revolt against steep cuts to Medicaid and other programs
in Trump's tax breaks bill
[May 09, 2025]
By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to Medicaid, Rep. Juan Ciscomani is
telling fellow Republicans he won't support steep cuts that could hit
thousands of residents in his Arizona district — “my neighbors, people
my kids go to school with” — who depend on it.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon, who represents the liberal-leaning “blue dot”
of Omaha, Nebraska, is trying to protect several Biden-era green energy
tax breaks. He's warning colleagues that “you can’t pull the rug out
from under” businesses that have already sunk millions of dollars into
renewable developments in Nebraska and beyond.
And for Republican Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, it’s simple: “No Salt.
No Deal. For Real.” He wants to revive — and bump up — what’s known as
the SALT deduction, which allows taxpayers to write off a portion of
their state and local taxes. Capping the deduction at $10,000 hurt many
of his Long Island constituents.
“Governing is a negotiation, right?” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New
York, another Republican who is also involved in the talks. “I think
everybody is going to have to give a little.”
As GOP leaders draft President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill” of
some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts by
Memorial Day, dozens of Republicans from contested congressional
districts have positioned themselves at the center of the negotiating
table.
While it’s often the most conservative members of the House Freedom
Caucus driving the legislative agenda — and they are demanding as much
as $2 trillion in cuts — it’s the more centrist-leaning conservatives
who could sink the bill. They have been hauled into meetings with Trump
at the White House, some have journeyed to his Mar-a-Lago estate in
Florida, and many are huddling almost daily with House Speaker Mike
Johnson.
And they are not satisfied, yet.
“To get everybody politically and policy-wise on the same page is going
to require more conversations,” said LaLota, who is among five
Republicans pledging to withhold their support unless changes to the
SALT deduction are included.
Republicans wrestle with what to put in — and what to leave out
Diving into the gritty details of the massive package, the GOP leaders
are running into the stubborn reality that not all the ideas from their
menu of potential tax breaks and spending cuts are popular with voters
back home.
Moreover, their work of compiling the big package is not happening in a
vacuum. It comes amid growing economic unease rippling across the
country as Trump has fired thousands of federal workers, including some
of their own constituents, and as his trade war sparks concerns of empty
store shelves and higher prices.
Brendan Buck, a former adviser to an earlier House speaker, Paul Ryan,
warned in an op-ed Wednesday that all the party's energy is being poured
into one bill, with questionable returns.
"Many Republicans are hoping that the tax bill can blunt the economic
damage caused by the Trump tariffs," Buck wrote in The New York Times,
“but that is highly unlikely.”
Democrats are ready for the fight, warning that Trump and his fellow
Republicans are ripping away health care and driving the economy into
the ditch — all to retain tax breaks approved during Trump's first term
that are expiring at year's end.
“What we see from Donald Trump and the Republicans is they are actually
crashing the economy in real time,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem
Jeffries of New York.
“Why,” the Democratic leader asked, “are Republicans jumping through
hoops” to try to reduce Medicaid and food stamps used by millions of
Americans?
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“It's all in service of enacting massive tax breaks for their
millionaire donors like Elon Musk,” he said.
GOP leaders search for consensus
Johnson has projected a calm confidence, insisting that House
Republicans are on track to deliver on Trump's agenda.
The speaker's office has become a waystation with a revolving door of
Republicans privately laboring to piece together the massive package.
So far, GOP leaders have signaled they are walking away from some, but
not all, of the steep Medicaid cuts. The nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office has said the proposals could result in millions of people
losing their coverage.
Instead, what appears to still be on the table are tougher work
requirements for those receiving Medicaid and food stamp assistance and
more frequent eligibility tests for beneficiaries.
That's not enough for the conservatives, who also number in the dozens
and are insisting on deeper reductions.
Centrists drawing red lines
Ciscomani, in his second term, signed onto a letter with Bacon and
others warning House Republican leadership he cannot support a bill that
includes “any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable
populations.”
“Our point is that we understand the need for reform,” Ciscomani said.
“But anything that goes beyond that and starts jeopardizing rural
hospitals in my district and their existence overall, then we’re running
into an area where it will be very difficult to move forward. I think
it’s very important they know that.”
Bacon, Ciscomani and others joined on a separate letter raising concerns
about eliminating clean-energy tax credits, including those passed under
President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
“Go with a scalpel. Go pick out some things,” Bacon told The Associated
Press. He and the others warned that companies are already investing
millions of dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act's incentives to
green energy.
"You just can’t do a wholesale throw it out," Bacon said.
Democrats track the vote with an eye on next year's midterms
Democrats are also applying political pressure in Ciscomani’s district
and beyond.
As Republicans decline to hold town halls on the advice of their
leaders, Democrats are stepping in to warn constituents about what could
happen to programs they rely on for health coverage and to put food on
the table.
Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Cory Booker of New Jersey
visited Ciscomani's Tucson-based district last month to offer harsh
condemnations.
Kelly asked how many in the room were represented by Ciscomani, and then
he warned about how scores of residents in the district could lose their
health care coverage.
“And for what? It is so Donald Trump could give a big, giant tax cut to
the wealthiest Americans. It is not fair,” Kelly said.
Booker, fresh off his 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, was even more
pointed, saying just three House Republicans have to change their mind
to upend the GOP’s effort in the House, with its narrow majority.
“I believe one of them has to be in this district right here,” Booker
said. “Either he changes his mind or this district changes
congresspeople. It’s as simple as that.”
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Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.
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